Sure, there are ways to reduce how much you may be paying for homeowners insurance right now. If you don’t have a policy yet and you own a home, you are taking a big risk: anything can happen and you would lose your home. If you haven’t bought a home but plan to buy one at some point, keep these tips in mind because they will help you save a chunk.

Homeowners insurance doesn’t have to be expensive. You’ll pay for it for as long as you own the home, and your home’s value won’t increase by taking out a high-premium policy; should a loss occur, you will still be compensated as if you were paying smaller premiums. When we talk about the best premiums, they are not necessarily the lowest, but rather the ones that, when you look at the benefits and discounts against the premiums, have the most value.

Here are 4 tips to guide you on how to get the best homeowners insurance premiums:

1. Can you buy a house in a community that has a community of owners? If you can, you will already have taken a big step towards saving yourself significant premiums. Once you become a member of the association and contract your insurance through it, you will enjoy discounted rates. The association, by purchasing premiums in bulk, will get you low rates for every policy you own and this translates directly to you as a homeowner.

2. Before you buy, compare. Talk to your family, friends and colleagues. Ask them what their experience has been: who offers the best value. Ask someone who has owned a home for many years and who you think is an expert in property management. Next, browse the web. You will find numerous companies and it may be difficult for you to make comparisons, but the good thing is that you start to get an idea of ​​what is out there. You can keep track by noting on a spreadsheet and then calling the ones near you who seem to be offering low premiums, high discounts, and lots of benefits.

3. Do you know an insurance agent? They always have the inside track on their industry, and if you find one you can trust to give you unbiased insight, pick their minds on what they would do if they were in your shoes. It’s worth asking like that instead of asking them to recommend something. They will most likely tell you exactly what they would do, and being insurance agents who know the market pretty well, you may want to take his advice. The best type of agent to approach is one that represents several companies: he’ll have a broader view and can immediately start benchmarking against his recommendations.

4. It is very likely that by the time you own a home, you will have taken out several other policies. Make sure you have all your insurance policies in one place, and then ask for a value discount. They will consider the full values ​​of all the policies you have and based on that they will give you a discount that extends to all policies.
Always remember to ask about discounts and benefits; some companies will never extend them until you do. It is your right, so you should not feel ashamed. It’s also an extremely competitive business, and many companies are willing to retain customers even if they have to go back a bit.

Homeowner’s insurance should never cost you too much—you can invest the money you save in improving your home so you can get even better rates.